New member from South Brittany, France

Let me introduce myself: I am Loïc, born in 1949 in Merlevenez, France.
I have been riding motorcycles since I was a young man, I had a plane too for ten years.
I am retired from France télécom and I live in France in Lorient, south of Brittany.
Recently coming back from a trip to Ireland in a BMW R 12150 RT, I started trying motorcycles of a completely different kind.
I liked the R18 Classic so I sold the R 1250RT to buy it.
 
Let me introduce myself: I am Loïc, born in 1949 in Merlevenez, France.
I have been riding motorcycles since I was a young man, I had a plane too for ten years.
I am retired from France télécom and I live in France in Lorient, south of Brittany.
Recently coming back from a trip to Ireland in a BMW R 12150 RT, I started trying motorcycles of a completely different kind.
I liked the R18 Classic so I sold the R 1250RT to buy it.
I traded my R1250RT in for my R18TC.
Congrats on your R18
 
Thank you.
By doing this I had to say goodbye to the radio, the tire pressure indicator, the tubeless tires and the range indicator.

The R 1250 RT that I had had for 3 years was too perfect, we ended up getting bored on board.

While the R18 classic is anything but boring. And then she's beautiful, my passenger claims that the saddle bruises her buttocks but I checked : it's not true!

Filling the fuel tank is much faster and easier, okay it has to be done more often! There is no great effort to put it on the central stand since there is none!

Using the on-board computer is not a big headache either, which is probably why the motorcycle manual has a lot fewer pages!

During the first kilometers the engine behaved in an unruly way, it snorted and knocked, not to mention the smell of baked paint that emanated at each stop, that worried me a little as well as the absolute absence of braking!

But after a hundred kilometers everything was back to normal and has been improving ever since.

I had the misfortune to encounter a nasty nail which knocked out the rear tire and forced me to return to the tow truck, thank you BMW assistance!

The comfort on board is not so bad, I would even say that the R18 Classic digests speed bumps better than the R 1250 RT which made me levitate above the seat on each pass, may be at higher speed I confess!

Much has already been said about the R 18's cornering ground clearance, but I've rarely heard of adjusting the rear suspension spring tension, get it right and the problem goes away !

On the other hand, I must say that the profile of the Michelin Commander Touring tire is not round enough: it causes changes in trajectory when you encounter differences in longitudinal levels on the road.

Instead of using the GPS and telephone supports which are delivered as standard and which are suitable for all motorcycles, I preferred to make two models myself which adapt perfectly to the handlebars of the R18, I figured out how to run the power wires through the handlebars. Please see pictures here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/hB2eneJE3N2rg6Wy6

The absence of a central stand is a disadvantage, fortunately the company Kern-Stabi ( https://www.louis-moto.fr/artikel/r...0077000?list=efcf878670176f11abdd3ffba4ade908 ) supplies an ingenious workshop stand which is also ideal as a craddle for lifting the motorcycle using a high-lift pallet truck.

See Images here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZiAHt5EogsYVU9iM7

And the luggage will you tell me? For this I turned to https://holan.pl/en/ whose the heritage range is well supplied.

I'm waiting for the delivery of their Heritage QR rack for 2 person "2 in 1" model.... To be continued....
 
Thank you.
By doing this I had to say goodbye to the radio, the tire pressure indicator, the tubeless tires and the range indicator.

The R 1250 RT that I had had for 3 years was too perfect, we ended up getting bored on board.

While the R18 classic is anything but boring. And then she's beautiful, my passenger claims that the saddle bruises her buttocks but I checked : it's not true!

Filling the fuel tank is much faster and easier, okay it has to be done more often! There is no great effort to put it on the central stand since there is none!

Using the on-board computer is not a big headache either, which is probably why the motorcycle manual has a lot fewer pages!

During the first kilometers the engine behaved in an unruly way, it snorted and knocked, not to mention the smell of baked paint that emanated at each stop, that worried me a little as well as the absolute absence of braking!

But after a hundred kilometers everything was back to normal and has been improving ever since.

I had the misfortune to encounter a nasty nail which knocked out the rear tire and forced me to return to the tow truck, thank you BMW assistance!

The comfort on board is not so bad, I would even say that the R18 Classic digests speed bumps better than the R 1250 RT which made me levitate above the seat on each pass, may be at higher speed I confess!

Much has already been said about the R 18's cornering ground clearance, but I've rarely heard of adjusting the rear suspension spring tension, get it right and the problem goes away !

On the other hand, I must say that the profile of the Michelin Commander Touring tire is not round enough: it causes changes in trajectory when you encounter differences in longitudinal levels on the road.

Instead of using the GPS and telephone supports which are delivered as standard and which are suitable for all motorcycles, I preferred to make two models myself which adapt perfectly to the handlebars of the R18, I figured out how to run the power wires through the handlebars. Please see pictures here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/hB2eneJE3N2rg6Wy6

The absence of a central stand is a disadvantage, fortunately the company Kern-Stabi ( https://www.louis-moto.fr/artikel/r...0077000?list=efcf878670176f11abdd3ffba4ade908 ) supplies an ingenious workshop stand which is also ideal as a craddle for lifting the motorcycle using a high-lift pallet truck.

See Images here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZiAHt5EogsYVU9iM7

And the luggage will you tell me? For this I turned to https://holan.pl/en/ whose the heritage range is well supplied.

I'm waiting for the delivery of their Heritage QR rack for 2 person "2 in 1" model.... To be continued....
It is a joy to read a post that is fun and exceeding well written. Thank you and enjoy.
 
Welcome and I also traded my RT for the R18. Checking butt bruising is another benefit of enjoying the R18 to the fullest, well done!

🍻🍻
 
Thank you ! Enjoy your R 18 as you enjoyed your RT. You know: the greatest trips I've ever done have been in an R, not an RT, I think the classic R18 is able to travel just as well !
 
Welcome Loïc! Yeah, that initial factory rear shock setting has caused considerable grief. Once she's dialed in, just smiles.
 
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